Vulnerability · Published Mar 29, 2026 · Assigned by CPANSec
CVE-2026-4851GRID::Machine versions through 0.127 for Perl allows arbitrary code execution via unsafe deserialization
Critical 9.8
In plain English
A critical-severity unsafe deserialization in GRID::Machine from CASIANO. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.5% (higher than 41% of all known vulnerabilities).
Official description
GRID::Machine versions through 0.127 for Perl allows arbitrary code execution via unsafe deserialization. GRID::Machine provides Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) over SSH for Perl. The client connects to remote hosts to execute code on them. A compromised or malicious remote host can execute arbitrary code back on the client through unsafe deserialization in the RPC protocol. read_operation() in lib/GRID/Machine/Message.pm deserialises values from the remote side using eval() $arg .= '$VAR1'; my $val = eval "no strict; $arg"; # line 40-41 $arg is raw bytes from the protocol pipe. A compromised remote host can embed arbitrary perl in the Dumper-formatted response: $VAR1 = do { system("..."); }; This executes on the client silently on every RPC call, as the return values remain correct. This functionality is by design but the trust requirement for the remote host is not documented in the distribution.
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| CASIANO | GRID::Machine | 0 – through 0.127 |
Weakness: CWE-502, CWE-95 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H